Funding for Macedon Ranges flu surge

Kyneton’s hospital is getting $92,844 from the state government as it copes with one of Victoria’s worst-ever flu seasons.

According to Kyneton District Health Services, the hospital has experienced a hike of more than a third in patients seeking urgent care for respiratory illnesses.

The organisation said some patients had been transferred to Melbourne or Bendigo, while the hospital’s staffing situation was also being impacted.

Kyneton District Health Services deputy chief executive Karen Laing said there had been a 35 per cent increase in the number of people presenting to its urgent care centre with respiratory illness in the past three months compared to the same time last year.

She said many of those patients were confirmed as having the flu.

“Some have required admission here in Kyneton, some have been transferred to Melbourne or Bendigo for further treatment,” she said.

Ms Laing said staffing had also been affected by the contagious virus, with the amount of sick leave being taken by staff “at an all-time high”.

Victorian health department data shows that as of October 3, 145 Macedon Ranges residents had been known to contract flu this year, compared to the 79 cases known last year.

In Hume, 476 cases have been reported, while only 350 were recorded last year.

The death toll in Victorian aged-care facilities from the flu has reached 116.

Young and otherwise healthy Victorians have also been killed by the virus, including an eight-year old Melbourne girl and a Bacchus Marsh father.

The funding comes as part of the $115 million being delivered by the Victorian government to the state’s busy hospitals.